Mission
Azuka Theatre strengthens the connection and shared humanity among its diverse audiences by giving voice to the people whose stories go unheard.
Our Name
The name Azuka is from the Nigerian word meaning “strength of foundation.”
Company Founder, Raelle Myrick-Hodges named the company after her niece, Jane Azuka, and to honor the strong community in which she was raised.
History
Azuka Theatre was founded in 1999 by Raelle Myrick-Hodges with co-founders Mark Andrews, Nora Berger-Green, and McKenna Kerrigan - all members from Class 5 of the Arden Theatre Company’s Professional Apprentice Program - along with Arden General Manager Laura Hamilton under the name Azuka Theatre Collective.
Azuka Theatre Collective’s first production, La Rue des Faux - adapted from James Baldwin’s groundbreaking novel Giovanni’s Room - was written and directed by Raelle, stage managed by Nora, technical directed by Mark, and featured McKenna in one of the lead roles. The show was produced in the basement of the William Way LGBT Community Center. The building was once a gentlemen’s club and the basement contained a beautiful old bar used by the club’s members. Azuka’s price for renting this space was the removal of a giant air conditioning unit that sat in the middle of the space—if we got that out, the space was ours! So, with the help of friends and a lot of sweat equity, the unit came out and the show went on! The play was very well received and sold out a number of performances. Among the cast of nine was Kevin Glaccum, who was invited to join the Collective when the show closed.
The company’s next show was another original play by Raelle, Trouble With Bohemia, and continued what would become a hallmark of the company; world premieres by local writers. That show was produced at Second Stage at The Adrienne. Over the years we would produce a total of eight shows on the three stages in that building. It was during this time that Raelle received a Theater Communications Group Emerging Directors grant that enabled her to work as an assistant director with two giants of our industry, Doug Hughes and George C. Wolfe on shows at the Public Theater and on Broadway respectively.
Her absence along with other members of the Collective taking their careers in different directions left the company a bit adrift for a season or two, until Kevin Glaccum assumed the role of Producing Artistic Director. The first project under his leadership was the company’s first foray into international production, an original piece about the artist Friedl Dicker-Brandeis who taught art to the children imprisoned with her in the Nazi concentration camp at Terezin before her death there. Former Arden apprentice, Alden Moore, brought the idea to the company and she, Kevin and Raelle travelled to Terezin in the Czech Republic to research the project, resulting in the production of An Artist’s Workshop, written and directed by Raelle and featuring both Kevin and Alden in the cast of 10. The show garnered Azuka Theatre Collective their first Barrymore nomination for Best New Play.
For the next seven years, Azuka Theatre produced two shows per season in a variety of locations. In fact, between 1999 and 2011 Azuka produced 22 shows in 11 different locations! In 2005 Veronica Griego joined Azuka Theatre (the “Collective” having been dropped from the company name that year) as General Manager. Along with her administration skills, Veronica wrote the play ‘Twas the Night, which was produced for Christmas 2005. Veronica was tragically killed in a car accident in the spring of 2006, and we produced ‘Twas the Night again in December 2006 in her honor.
In the spring of 2008 Azuka Theatre produced the most successful show in the company’s history, Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Starring local legend Dito van Reigersberg (aka Martha Graham-Cracker) and featuring Kim Carson, the show was produced at The Latvian Society where we would go on to produce four more shows over the next three years.
In the fall of 2011, Azuka Theatre along with Inis Nua Theatre Company took up residence in The First Baptist Church at 17th & Sansom where we carved out a 75-seat black box theater as well as office and rehearsal space. Named The Off-Broad Street Theater, Azuka produced 11 shows over the next four years, having expanded our programming to three shows a season. When a new congregation took over the building in 2015, we were forced to leave. Soon after, InterAct Theatre Company opened the brand new Theatres at The Drake that included two new performance spaces. We gladly joined the group of theaters there as Resident Partners. Since that time we have continued producing three shows a year, alternating between the two spaces. The Theaters at the Drake are known as Philadelphia’s Home for New Plays, and we embrace that moniker, so far producing eight world premieres there - all by Philadelphia-based playwrights.